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ELKHORN—Four Walworth County sheriff's deputies involved in a June 13 shooting that ended with the death of an Elkhorn man have been cleared by the Walworth County district attorney.

Deputies Todd Neumann, Jeffery Shaw, Wayne Blanchard and Garth Frami responded to a home invasion call at N7248 County O, Elkhorn, that led to the shooting of Jeremiah Krubert, 39. The residence belonged to Krubert's mother and her boyfriend.

A letter from District Attorney Daniel Necci to Sheriff David Graves details each deputy's involvement in the shooting based on statements and evidence from the scene collected by the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation.

According to the letter, Neumann arrived as Krubert was trying to leave in his mother's boyfriend's truck. As Neumann approached the truck, Krubert got out and approached Neumann “holding a large blade knife in a threatening manner,” according to the statement.

Neumann shot at Krubert an “unknown number of times,” but Krubert continued his approach.

“Neumann began to move backwards away from Krubert, continued to command Krubert to 'Get down,' and experienced a mechanical failure of his handgun. Krubert continued to approach and now began to say 'Kill me, kill me,'” the letter reads.

Neumann continued to back away but tripped over an electrical box. Neumann drew his baton “preparing for mortal combat,” but Krubert ran past him and got into Neumann's squad car and drove off, heading south on Millard Road, according to the letter.

Shaw and Blanchard pursued Krubert on Millard Road. Krubert drove through the “T” intersection of Millard and Pierce roads and into a field, where the squad car he had stolen smashed into farm equipment, according to the letter. Frami also had joined in the chase.

Krubert exited the stolen squad car with a shotgun from the squad, and Shaw saw Krubert “appearing to attempt to chamber a round.” The three deputies fired their rifles, and Krubert fell to the ground, according to the statement.

The investigation later revealed Krubert had forcefully entered his mother's home and attacked her boyfriend, Michael Boyd, 54, with a led pipe, according to the statement.

Necci wrote in his Aug. 6 letter to the sheriff that he has “no reason whatsoever” to believe Krubert's death resulted from the commission of any crimes that would require an inquest.

The deputies' actions were “privileged as acts of defense of themselves or others … and, therefore, Wisconsin law is clear that I can not order that an inquest be conducted,” Necci wrote.

The deputies were assigned to administrative duties after the shooting. The Gazette was not able to reach sheriff's officials Wednesday to find out the deputies' status.

Court records indicate Krubert had a history of mental illness and arrests for crimes including theft and lewd and lascivious behavior. Probation records obtained by The Gazette from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections indicate he repeatedly abused drugs and alcohol.

In a questionnaire he filled out as part of his probation, Krubert claimed to have had a troubled childhood. Responding to questions on the form, he indicated there had been violence in his home and that he had experienced traumatic childhood events, although no details were provided.

In the same questionnaire, Krubert admitted to using alcohol and marijuana since he was 14.

When asked to describe himself, Krubert wrote: “Healthy, athletic, generally good person, with a mental illness that has led me to behave criminally and ruined my life.”